The bonfire at Floradorp in Amsterdam’s Noord district was still burning at around 11.30pm on Saturday. This came after the Amsterdam Triangle decided that the traditional bonfire could not take place during the end of the year due to strong winds.
The KNMI has issued code yellow and warns of strong wind gusts of around 80 kilometers per hour in the northwest. On the advice of the fire brigade, the Amsterdam triangle (municipality, police and prosecutor’s office) decided shortly after 11 p.m. to postpone the traditional bonfire in Floradorp until Sunday.
Organizer Patrick van Bronswijk was against it AT 5 that he regretted the decision. Even the mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, said in a statement that she was “extremely sorry” for the bad weather conditions. She added that great efforts have been made to allow the bonfire to continue. For example, the pile was halved and the water screens were ready. But “the safety of bystanders, local residents and buildings is paramount,” Halsema said.
The residents of the neighborhood did not agree with the decision and half an hour later they still lit the woodpile. The police, the fire brigade and the mobile unit intervened on the spot. “We are now evaluating how to act according to the circumstances,” a police spokesman said.
The firefighters have now left the bonfire, he reports AT 5. It seems that it was decided to let the fire go out. Previously, the fire brigade focused on protecting neighboring houses on the Buikslotermeerdijk. These homes may have been at risk from high winds. Firefighters sprayed houses with water and sprayed a so-called “water screen” around the fire to prevent it from spreading further.
